Graham McGregor: Gratitude marketing

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Gratitude and appreciation is something we all value getting and can also be a powerful ingredient to include in many of your marketing activities as well.

Here a simple gratitude marketing strategy you might like to use in your own business.

(And a good time to use this strategy is in late November a few weeks before Xmas.)

I call it the 'Top 20 Gratitude Strategy' and here's how it works.

Step One: Identify the top 20 businesses that have been most helpful to you over the last 12 months. And write down the name of one person who is your main contact in each of these 20 businesses.

Your top 20 list could include...

* Businesses who have referred new clients to you* Businesses who have made your life easier in some way* Businesses who have helped you to solve a problem* Businesses who have made you more successful* Businesses who may have spent money with you* Businesses who have encouraged and inspired you* Businesses who are your favourite suppliers* Etc

Creating a list like this should take you 5-10 minutes.

Step Two: Send a short personal letter to the contact person In each business. Do this by 'snail mail' and make the letter distinctive in some way. (Perhaps sent it out in a coloured envelope so it stands out from the other mail this person will normally receive.)

Do three things in this personal letter:

A: Thank each person for their help and support over the last 12 months.B: Give them an inexpensive (but memorable) gift to show your appreciationC: Wish them well for the brand new year starting soon.

Ideally your memorable gift should be something that you think they will value highly. I suggest you invest somewhere between $15 and $30 for each person. And you might also look at trying to come up with a gift that is quite different from other things they may be getting.

So I don't recommend sending a calendar or bottle of wine to these 20 people. Because this type of gift is very common at this time of the year.

Find something that is 'out of the ordinary' if you like.

There are many out of the ordinary and uncommon gifts you could send.

So get your thinking cap on.

(If you would like an 'out of the ordinary' gratitude marketing idea that a number of my own clients are using just email me using the link at the end of this article. Mention 'top 20' in your message and I'll give you the full details without obligation. The idea my clients are using is very positive and will be remembered for a long time.)

Step Three: Send your letter and gift with no expectation of getting anything in return.

Your goal here is to simply identify 20 key people in business that you would like to say 'thank you' to and then do something tangible to show your appreciation.

There are three helpful benefits from using something like the 'Top 20 Gratitude Strategy'...

Benefit One: You now have 20 people in business who remember you in a very positive way. (This can often produce unexpected benefits when you least expect it.)

Benefit Two: You have differentiated your business from many others because you have done something a little bit different at this time of the year.

Benefit Three: When you do something positive like this for 20 other people you actually feel pretty good about yourself at the same time.

I invite you to try this simple gratitude marketing strategy in your own business. It's affordable, easy to do, and you never know what long term results it could potentially create for you.

'The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.'William James

Action Exercise:How could you show your gratitude to 20 businesses that have been of help to you over the last 12 months?

"Send your letter and gift with no expectation of getting anything in return."

ROFL - oh, that's beautiful. Step 3 in an article all about how to grease people up in the hope of getting more out of them next year: token pontification about not expecting anything in return.

What utter hypocrisy. Have marketing consultants never heard of transparent insincerity, and its effect on people who know they're presumed to be so thick that they won't spot an ulterior motive if it's coated in sugar?

May as well have titled the article How to Insult Your 20 Most Valuable Contacts.

Graham Mc (Auckland Region) |
10:29AM Wednesday, 21 Nov 2012

Hi Lloyd, thanks for your comments, however you seem to have taken what I said out of context. When you give a gift to a valued contact I suggest you give it with no expectation of anything in return. That being said, when you do something nice like this you will often find people will recommend and mention your business to other people they know. Here is a good example.

I recall getting an unexpected gift myself from a car dealer over 20 year ago. I had bought a new car and a month after getting it I received a double movie pass in the mail along with a nice note from the car dealer thanking me for my business. This is the only double movie pass I have ever received in my life from any business and it made a big impact on me. I told a lot of other people about this car dealer, I bought two more cars from them over the next 5 years and I felt special.

I did not have to do anything as a result of getting the double movie pass however I felt appreciated and was more than happy to recommend them as a result. Getting this free gift did not offend me in any way. When you do nice things for people with small gifts they often want to help you in return.